The third CP Rail line is going into Pitt Meadows regardless of what happens with the Harris Road underpass project. That was the message conveyed by CP Rail at the March 28 council meeting in Pitt Meadows.
Following the announcement from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority that the cost of the underpass project had now more than tripled, a representative from CP Rail took to the podium to speak about updates surrounding the third-line project between Kennedy Road and Golden Ears Way.
READ MORE: Pitt Meadows underpass becomes 3 times as expensive, with $50 million requested from city
Perhaps the biggest update shared by CP Rail’s managing director of real estate and development, Jeffrey Knight, was that the location of the new tracks had shifted from being north of the existing line to south of it.
“There is a drainage ditch along the north side that we wanted to protect and not impact by constructing to the north,” explained Knight. “Shifting it to the south on either end allows us to not impact that drainage channel.”
He also said that a notice of railway works will be sent out in the coming weeks to the approximately 250 Pitt Meadows properties affected by the project. Following that, a brief information postcard will then be sent to every household in Pitt Meadows.
One of the impacted property owners who chose to speak after Knight’s presentation was Lawrence Kerman, who lives across from the Pitt Meadows West Coast Express station.
“I’ve noticed a bit of a divide with people on opposite sides of the tracks,” said Kerman. “Anytime I’ve spoken up about this, it seems like I’ve gotten a pushback of ‘you knew you where you were buying a house when you bought it’. But things have changed a lot in the last 10 years since we bought our house.”
“They didn’t use to park trains outside my house for hours with the engines running. They’re building them longer, and longer, and longer.”
“I’m not trying to slow down production, I’m not trying to slow down trade in Canada, or any of that. I just don’t want my backyard full of black dust and exhaust. I’ve got little kids.”
RELATED: CP rail plans give Pitt Meadows resident food for thought
Knight responded to Kerman’s comments by saying that the new track would actually help with the complaint of idling trains.
“This third track does not change the operations that are going to take place in the City of Pitt Meadows,” said Knight. “It enables us to do it free of the north main line.”
“One of the things that we see idling for is the ability to get space on one of those main lines to move through. A third track allows things to happen simultaneously by having another track that’s in that position.”
Have a story tip? Email: brandon.tucker@mapleridgenews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.